The Baffling Ideas of Idle Brains

[WBAGNR]

I have an idea for an app that I reckon might be useful. Heck, even as a website it might be quite good.

I have the idea, but have no way of executing it and I'm wary of giving my idea away (not that it's really a great idea or not been done before). Because of this, my dad, who used to be a programmer, suggested learning a programming language so that I could build the app/site myself. What I need the app to do is fairly basic, but daunting for a complete novice.

EDIT:

Have bought a Dummies Guide to Excel VBA Programming. Hopefully it will allow me to build some skills that not only help me now with my current idea, but may make me more employable in the future.

[The Jester]

... I could totally make 3D D&D terrain.

I'm good at crafting stuff, there are shops around with a variety of materials that I could use to make things interesting, I have played D&D and so know what sort of awesome stuff I could make to make things interesting, I'm good at detail and I'm patient with glueing shit together.

Also, because I could get the materials cheap, I could probably make sets and sell them for about a half or a third less than the price the Dwarven Forge people make their stuff (I gotta make a profit off it, or it's not worth it).
And I could make custom ones, as well.

Hell, I could make other stuff, too! Custom dice or card chest, anyone? With a bit of practice, I could do custom miniatures of characters. Or character portraits.

[Mister Fiend]

I could totally spend my day off smoking a brisket.

[JustAName]

I would become a song writer just to surreptitiously sneak vocabulary words and mathematical and scientific terms into pop songs. Not obviously, say one per song, where they fit. Just so that "the youth" would be exposed to these things and already know what they mean by the time they get to the class where it matters.

[Lyinginbedmon]

Many would argue it actually matters more at the employment stage, rather than the academic.

[Metcarfre]

Personally I think you'd do much better to teach history via music (everything I know about Rasputin...).

But then, music and math are closely related in the brain...

[JustAName]

Guys guys guys! Okay, so. People tend to observe time as linear, because that's how we're wired, right? But it's not really. It's another dimension, yes? Spacetime and all that. So. Wormholes can theoretically connect two spots in spacetime, so you can theoretically travel in time. The question then becomes, if dimensions are like circles, spheres, etc... can you actually AFFECT later time at all? I mean, would it be like poking an inflated ball, where the whole thing changes, or would it be like poking a ball of clay, where you're more likely to get an indent, and a spot on the opposite side where it sticks out a bit, and most of the rest is unaffected?

[Lord Chrusher]

No one knows. Thinking about self intersecting light cones is making my head hurt.

[The Jester]

What would happen if someone hit Superman with a lightsaber? Or Wolverine's claws? Or what would happen if Wolverine tried to block a lightsaber with his claws?

[VanHelsing23]

When I'm bored, I like to look at common ideas from strange angles, like these Accurate But Misleading Movie Descriptions, or the Jonathan Coulton song "Christmas Is Interesting".

[Undersol]

2 things that are on my mind.

Uno:
I hate that the words wapanese and its partner in crime weeaboo exist. I understand that on the internet hate is flung like beads on Mardi Gras, but seriously. Making fun of people for a hobby and an interest in another culture is dumb. No! Beyond dumb it is un-fucking-forgiveable! If I were to take an interest in German, Russian, or African culture would I be mocked? I myself have only a passing interest in Japanese culture, but what if I did? Mockery of this sort is nothing short of disguised racism. And even if racism does not affect you, you should still be angry at it and want it destroyed. Thank you I do not know what other than insomnia brought this and the following rant on. So no need to comfort me about it or call me butthurt, I just need to get thoughts out.

Now...

Dos:
The Infallible Fallacy is a source of ire to me. -Actually ignore the comment from the previous rant I KNOW what brought on this rant.- This comic:http://blipcomic.com/index.php has in it characters that are basing their actions on the belief that God is infallible. I can at least be thankful that the protagonist is not the one operating under this misguided notion otherwise the badness would overflow in me and I would have to unleash my bloodlust.

Disclaimer time. While I do not share a belief in TheLordAlmightyGodWhoGaveHisSon or any religion unless you count healthy grain of salt atheism(which you shouldn't yo!), I am alright with those who are comforted by the belief in a higher power because belief in a higher power can be comforting. No matter what form that belief takes whether it is one of the many religions or the belief that your family or friends have got your back, you are all good with me peeps.

I am filled with anger at the idea that people can place the idea that God or whatever being "Right" before basic human morality, or use it to cover up their lack of morality. Basically no matter what God, or Your Political Party of Choice, or Your Government, or Your Significant Authority Figure, or ANYONE tells you-the Morals you hold to should be what informs your decision. You should weigh it against your knowledge and your conscience. DO NOT give into the thoughts of another because you believe them to be "Infallible." If God came down on a cloud of pixie dust, told me he was real and had irrefutable proof and told me to go kill in his name I believe that I, or any and all persons in existence should tell him no. Even if I would want to. Even if it wasn't murder but just being a jerk. I don't like being a jerk I wish I was perfect so I would never do it. I wish we were all perfect so that there would be no hate, no murder, no just being a bit of a jerk and ruining someones day, and nothing wrong.

But We are not perfect. No one is. No one can be. If someone tells you that they are perfect they are lying or believe a falsehood.

We people of the Universe should let our minds inform us and guide us, our hearts lead the way, and always know that there is no perfect way to walk so we must try always to at least walk the way that our morals and the guidance of others knowing them to be as imperfect as our selves judge to be the path of GOOD. (Btw if you lack morals and compassion, um...well I don't like you and think you're a doodyhead so go away.)





Um that >.> came out of me like the rolling of thunder through my hands so...um sorries if it makes you sad or mad or angry or happy if you don't want to be. And if you have to talk to me and correct me or have discussions about it then I'll be back on after I help pour concrete in my morning.

[Lyinginbedmon]

I think that's one half Venting Thread Gamma and one half Religion Thread...

[Fugiman]

Now, I don't normally respond to rants, but since you specifically put it here to BE commented on...

Yes, I too believe people should use their own moral compass to judge their actions, and not take some authoritative figure's word as law. However, I do not believe that comic is a good inspiration for that sentiment. (Disclaimer: I've read ~55 pages so far) In the comic, God and Satan are playing an ACTIVE role in people's lives, and in general it is not reality. Ergo, I'm not too concerned if they place a bit more stock in god than I do, because for them, he is a very real entity that they can talk to. And while I haven't yet seen an instance of them killing/being a dick to make god happy, I'll say that sometimes, being a dick is better than the alternative. Lesser of two evils. The only question is whether people making the choice are properly informed or not.

[Lyinginbedmon]

Recently the television show Curiosity started airing, with the first episode being "Did God Create the Universe?", through which I've been exposed to what I believe is known as the Hartle-Hawking no-boundary condition.

In short, according to that theory, the universe appeared spontaneously, without cause or input, in an area that had no space and no time. Some say this means that there is no longer any room for God to actually create the universe in, but that's not what has me thinking.

Now, I understand negative energy, which is responsible in the theory for space as the energy in the universe ballooned during the Big Bang. As more energy appeared, more negative energy appeared as the equal and opposite reaction and space was the result.

I also understand time dilation, that as space-time is warped time can speed up and slow down (though I'm not sure both can happen at the same time). I know this has been demonstrated both by Einstein & Eddington and by the oft-recounted "two clocks, one on a plane" experiment that I'm having trouble finding documentation on.

I can also understand quantum mechanics to the extent of particles blinking in and out of existence.

But I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the notion that anything at all had time to happen, let alone God, when there was no time before the Big Bang. Are quantum ("virtual") particles able to violate the necessity of time? And if indeed my issue here can be rectified, could there be more universes outside our own, existing simultaneously with us in "null space"?

I'm tempted to favour the Brane-collision theory that comes from String theory, though I'm unacquainted with the latter in any significant regard and favour it at the moment because it allows for a no-time region that still changes, resulting in our Big Bang. There's also the cyclical-universe theory that holds that a former universe collapsed into a Big Bang and the chaotic inflation theory that holds that parts of a universe inflate and collapse, resulting in numerous Big Bangs with numerous "spin-off" universes.

Hawking has rarely steered me wrong but I'm skeptical here for the moment, can anyone explain the Hartle-Hawking idea to me as regards the time issue?

[Lord Chrusher]

No one*, not even quite clever people like Hawking, understands time. I think you also under estimate quantum weirdness. The universe is under no obligation to make sense. You have to remember that any work on inflation or earlier in the universe is only informed speculation. This is a long way of saying I do not understand it either.

*Someone may have figure it out but the news has not come to Harvard (or Swinburne in my case).

[Dutch guy]

Basically physics has a license to dick with you for no reason and will do so extensively when it comes to the mechanics of space and time.

[TomBrend]

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/177/4044/166.abstract
See also the paper with the observed results (click next).

[Lord Chrusher]

This post has been edit from a previous, incorrect version.

The Hafele–Keating experiment can be explained in terms of special relativity. Use the centre of the Earth as stationary point of reference, compared to an observer on the Earth's surface, the eastward plane is travelling faster while the westward plane is travelling slower so the eastward plane losses time and the westward plane gains time. There is also a general relativity effect as the clocks run faster at high altitude due to the lower gravitational field causing both clocks to gain time.

This is a bit weird but it follows naturally from general relative. We went through the derivation for this in one of my physics classes but I have not done this since then so I am a bit rusty on it. I sure I would scare almost everyone with the maths and make more than a few mistakes so I refer you to Wikipedia if you want to learn more.

On the other hand quantum mechanics (and more advanced version such as quantum field theory) is a whole other level of weird. I gave up long ago trying to understand what was really going on. Like many physicists I use quantum mechanics as way to do calculations and do not worry about the philosophy.

[Lyinginbedmon]

Yeah, barring the mathematics behind it I do understand relativity. I guess the specific question I have is whether or not quantum events require time.

[The Jester]

When I was in London at LRRndon, Ga Prog Man and I were talking about what kind of damage resistance one might need to survive a car impact. It didn't get much further than that, sadly, since we were both a bit distracted by walking about, and neither of us had any rulebooks in any case.

However, I just brought it up with Kaiserin (who loves playing D&D and other RPGs, and that is one of the things she is incredibly awesome for), and she made the point that working out the kind of damage a car might do could be done by adapting the falling rules from 3.5 Ed.

Unfortunatley, we're neither of us mathematicians, nor physicists. So. Can anyone help us out? We were wondering what kind of hit points and/or damage resistance one might need to survive car impacts at different speeds. You can further assume from this that people have different classes and therefore different HP values, because where one person might survive one impact because of the level of their physical fitness and reaction time, another might be killed, because their bodies couldn't take the same kind of punishment.

Also, it's fun wondering what kind of class you are. Artists obviously are like wizards; it takes a long time studying really hard to be any good, we can't wear heavy armour and have low hit points (unless we multi-class or take prestige classes), and people like body builders and athletes have higher class bonuses to things like HP and acrobatics or athletics checks, and higher Fortitude or Reflex bonuses.

[Master Gunner]

Velocity (such as when you're falling) can be determined by the equation v^2 = u^2 + 2ax, where u is your initial velocity, a is your acceleration, and x is (change in) distance. So we want to find an equivalency between speed in a car and fall distance. u can be assumed to be 0, and a is 9.8. Thus, v^2 = 19.6x, and we want to isolate x. So, x = v^2/19.6. Put the velocity of the vehicle in v, and that should give you the equivalent fall distance (in metres). Apply fall damage as normal, plus whatever you want to add for shrapnel, crushing, and the like.

So, for a vehicle impact at 100km/h:
100km/h * 1000m/km / 3600s/h = 27.8m/s = v
x = 27.8^2/19.6 = 772.84/19.6
x = 39.4m
It would be about the same as falling 40m.

EDIT: Looking up the falling damage rules, of course it has to be in feet. So then 39.4*3.3 = 130 feet, so they'd take 13d6 of damage.